“I grew up in the suburbs of Sydney,” said Zimmermann’s Nicky Zimmermann today. “About 45 minutes out of the city—you were kind of deprived of access to the subculture happening in town. So, every Saturday, I’d drive in with my friends and we’d make our own outfits.” This origin story served as the inspiration for Zimmermann’s Spring collection, which demonstrated an improvement over this past Fall—perhaps because its underlying idea was so close to Nicky’s heart. There’s nothing quite like hitting up the city as a youngster when your day-to-day life in suburbia is a little slow (this writer can relate).

What that morphed into on the runway was clothing that had a ruffled pomp with a polished, DIY kind of indifference, rife with lace, tulle, layers, prints, and detail. What’s regularly remarkable about Zimmermann is the brand’s ability to produce high-quality, intricate workmanship while retailing at a sub-designer price point. One piece, a white lace and purply floral menagerie of wraps and tiers (essentially a souped-up prairie dress), was especially striking in terms of its construction. It also featured an off-the-shoulder element, which is proving to be quite trendy in the early stages of NYFW.

Zimmermann mentioned that the overall feel of the collection was also “kind of sexy pirate,” a descriptor that must have sprung from the “romanticism” of her youthful memories. Sometimes that manifestation looked a little derivative of, say, Rodarte, but it wasn’t bothersome. One standout item was a pajama pant in windowpane check that had weighty silver buttons running up the sides. “It’s about the fun we were having,” concluded the designer. And the fun that many girls will soon have, come Spring’s deliveries.